HHR Secures Victory for CIA Employee in Sexual Assault Case

September 2024 - Kevin Carroll achieved victory for a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee in her criminal case against a former CIA officer, claiming he sexually assaulted her in June 2023.

On Sept. 25, former CIA officer Donald J. Asquith was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery in Loudoun General District Court after admitting to getting drunk in a satellite office of the agency, where witnesses said he repeatedly groped and kissed Kevin’s client.

Judge Lorrie Sinclair Taylor sentenced Asquith to one day in jail and suspended the rest of a six-month sentence. She also placed him on one-year probation, ordered a $2,500 fine and ordered him to undergo substance abuse and mental health counseling.

Asquith said he would appeal the misdemeanor conviction following a brief judge trial in Loudoun County, entitling him under Virginia law to a jury trial on the same allegations.

“It’s a vindication,” Kevin told AP News. “She thought she had to stand up for younger women so that they didn’t have to go through something similar.”

Kevin’s client is the first of dozens of women who have come forward to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee alleging that the CIA is mishandling its response to sexual assault and harassment in the workforce. In January, this led the CIA to overhaul its process for handling sexual assault and harassment complaints in its workforce.

The ruling garnered press coverage in The Washington Post, AP News, CNN and ABC News.